Prayer for God's perfect peace in the Middle East

BY GLORIA ONYURU

Peace. It's probably not stretching things to say that most people want peace—in their homes, their neighborhoods, their countries. One region of the world that is notorious for not being peaceful is the Middle East. The unrest there goes back many centuries, and is chronicled in the Bible. Just flipping through the Book of books will bring you face to face with the names of modern-day Middle Eastern countries, such as Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Their borders have fluctuated down through the ages, but their names remain the same. And if you listen to the news, you're aware of the ebbing and flowing tension among them.

In such a fluid environment, is it possible to find any lasting peace? Centuries ago a writer in the Hebrew Bible reported that "they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel" (I Kings 22:1). Accepting that as historically true, we can hope and pray that since peace was once possible between Syria and Israel, it is possible again today. And hope is one reason why the government of Turkey has been reaching out to its southernmost neighbor, Syria, and to Israel, with whom Turkey has close ties, by facilitating indirect peace talks between these two long-time enemies.

Last spring the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert surprised many people when it "confirmed a decision to conduct indirect peace talks in a 'serious and continuous way, in order to achieve the goal of comprehensive peace.'" An expert on Syria from Tel Aviv University was also quoted as saying that "if the prime minister of Israel said to [Syrian President Bashar al-As-sad] that he's ready to withdraw to the Sea of Galilee, a very serious obstacle has been removed" (The Christian Science Monitor, May 22, "Israel confirms Golan Heights talks with Syria").